laughter, 'tis because the very subject causes it. There are many things which deserve to be jeered and ridiculed at this rate, lest if we should confute them seriously, we should seem to lay too great stress upon them. Nothing is more due to vanity than laughter, and to laugh does properly belong to the truth, because it is pleasant, and to sport with its enemies, because it is certain of the victory." Du Pin's History of Ecclesiastical Writers, vol. I. page 79.

Tertullian seems to have understood human nature better than the Attorney-General and the Government; for he says, that if there are found some passages that excite laughter, it is because the very subject causes it; thus acknowledging that laughter is an involuntary impulse. And he says that some things deserve to be jeered and ridiculed. So thought I in my Letters to the Clergy. And he says that laughter does properly belong to the truth, because it is pleasant. So I think. And he says to sport with the enemies of truth, is certain of the victory. So I have an idea; and it is perhaps for this reason, that priests are so much opposed to Letters to the Clergy. It is evident then that Tertullian advises the use of ridicule, and because I have followed his advice, I have done wrong and the Government will not allow it. The Government here treat with contempt the advice of this celebrated Christian advocate, and on another occasion they will refer people to him as a high authority in favour of the Christian religion. Such is their consistency.

I maintain that the Government have no right to assume that the Bible is the word of God, and get a verdict of blasphemy in virtue of that assumption. The reason is, as I have before stated, that tens of thousands in this country deny that the Bible is the word of God; and they have as much right to their assumption, as the Government have to theirs. They have, besides, reasons for this denial; and in addition to those which I

have already adduced, I will here notice one or two not of little consequence. In Du Pin's Complete History of the Canon &c. vol. II. ch. II. sec. XII. p. 80, I find the following passage ::

"St. Jerome says, that divers persons rejected the Epistle of St. Jude, because the apocryphal book of Enoch is therein quoted; that nevertheless, it had acquired authority by its antiquity, and the use that the churches had made of it."

And again in the same work, vol. II. ch. 1. sec. VIII. page 14, Du Pin says:

"St. Jerome reckons amongst the canonical books of the New Testament, all those that the Church universal receives as such, and even those whereof some churches doubted at first, as the Epistle to the Hebrews; of which the Church of Rome did sometimes doubt: The Epistle of St. Peter, the Epistle of St. James, and the Epistle of St. Jude, of which, he says, it acquired authority by its antiquity, and the use that was made of it.

Let the Government take notice of these passages. Here are admissions on the part of St. Jerome, one of the greatest men of the Church, that negative the assumption upon which they found their verdicts of blasphemy. Here we are told that all the Bible, at the least, is not the word of God. In the first passage we are told, that divers persons rejected the Epistle of St. Jude, and that it acquired authority by its antiquity, and the use that the churches made of it. A pretty tale to tell us to be sure. And in the second passage we are told, that at first some churches doubted the Epistle to the Hebrews, of which the Church of Rome sometime doubted, the Epistle of St. Peter, the Epistle of St. James, and the Epistle of St. Jude; and again we are told the latter acquired its authority by its antiquity, and the use that was made of it. A pretty tale to tell us to be sure,

after people have suffered so much for denying the divinity of the Bible. What then! did the Epistle of St. Jude acquire its authority by its antiquity, and the use that was made of it? Did it become the word of God by keeping, and the use that was made of it? Did this Epistle, in short, which was not the word of God at first, become the word of God because people kept it, and made use of it? Why, my Lord, Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer may become the word of God at this rate we have only to keep them long enough, and make use of them. And after all, the Government presume to convict people of blasphemy.

I will now notice one of the strongest arguments you have, in support of the proposition, that the Bible is the word of God, and if it be equal in force to the argument which I have just named in support of the opposite proposition, I will give up the contest, and acknowledge that the Government have a right to convict people of blasphemy. In the aforementioned work of Du Pin, vol. 1. page 67, I find the following sentence:—

"One of the greatest proofs we have of the truth of our religion, is its ANTIQUITY.

And again in the same work, vol. I. page 25, I find the following:

"St. Augustine speaking of the Book of Enoch, and of other writings, attributed to those ancient Patriarchs, says, That their great ANTIQUITY is the reason why they have no authority among Jews and Christians; and that this has rendered them suspected, for fear they should quote spurious pieces instead of genuine."

Here then, according to Du Pin, the antiquity of the Bible is one of the greatest proofs you have that it is the word of God. And St. Augustine says, in the second extract, that the antiquity of the Book of Enoch is the reason why it has no authority among Jews and

Christians. So that one of your greatest proofs is no proof at all; or rather, instead of being a proof in your favour, it is a proof against you. The antiquity of any thing, says St. Augustine, ought to be a reason why you should suspect it. On no account, my Lord, ought you to continue to preach that the Bible is the word of God, until you have fully answered the arguments which I have here advanced and unless you do answer these arguments, either you or some one connected with the Christian Church, I shall neither allow you nor the Government to call me a blasphemous libeller.

I am, my Lord, respectfully,

Hulme, January 1st 1841.

C. J. HASLAM.

Just published, price one penny, the Fifth Edition, with Emendations, of LETTR II. TO THE CLERGY OF ALL DENOMINATIONS. The other Letters of this series that are out of print, will shortly be published, together with the two last which complete the work.

"His very able work is submitted, not to the public mind, but to "Trial by Jury;" and its merits or demerits are determined upon by merchants, brokers, tradesmen, and jobbing peculating Jurymen called Tales, as totally ignorant of Mr. Haslam's studies and works, as he most probably is of their different lines of traffic." PUBLICOLA, of the Weekly Dispatch.

PRINTED BY C. J. HASLAM, HULME.

LETTER XV.

TO THE BISHOP OF EXETER:

CONTAINING

MATERIALS FOR DECIDING THE QUESTION,

WHETHER OR NOT

THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?

BY C. J. HASLAM.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE AUThor, 65,

STOTT-STREET, HULME, MANCHESTER.

MY LORD,

Price one Penny.

I have something more to say respecting the trial of Mr. Hetherington for blasphemy. The AttorneyGeneral, in his reply to the able defence of Mr. Hetherington, took occasion to make some remarks that ought not to be passed over without some little notice. The first sentence that I shall bring under your lordship's attention is the following:

"The Defendant had contended that the blasphemous attack on our holy religion, which they had heard read, was only free inquiry; and had taunted the Government and himself, who desired the extension of useful knowledge, with having prosecuted this book. But was this

book of Haslam's useful knowledge?